St Helens chief upset at Barba NRL links

St Helens chairman Eamonn McManus has hit back at speculation linking Ben Barba with a return to the NRL and insists his star fullback's going nowhere.

Barba has been sensational for the Super League leaders this season after arriving in the UK a year ago following an ill-fated stint in French rugby.

Barba was forced to rebuild his career overseas when he was slugged with a 12-game ban by the NRL after testing positive for cocaine following Cronulla's 2016 grand final success.

The 28-year-old former Canterbury and Brisbane star is the red-hot favourite to win the Super League's Man of Steel award and has flourished under former Sydney Roosters under-20s coach Justin Holbrook.

Those performances haven't gone unnoticed back in Australia and on Sunday, Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan said he'd welcome Barba back with open arms.

But McManus said the Queenslander is thriving being out of the Sydney rugby league goldfish bowl and is angry at what he believes are efforts to unsettle his player.

"I keep reading these reports than Ben won't be here next year and to be quite honest, it is a little bit annoying," McManus told AAP.

"He is midway through a two-and-a-half-year contract and he and his family have settled in the area very well and really embraced the town, the people and the club.